By- products of corn starch industry were used to prepare media for propagation the lactic acid bacteria as a natural auxotroph. The by- products used were the corn steep water (S) and gluten extract (G) after a proper treatment to get them ready for media preparation. The results showed that it was possible to replace the peptone and meat extract by gluten extract in MRS medium. The growth was approximately similar to that obtained in standard MRS media. Corn steep water (S) was used as well and the growth enhanced by including Tween – 80 at 1% level. The later media named MZ, which was superior for growing standard and local strains and starters. The MZ medium modified by adding acetate and glacial acetic acid similarly to

A systematic approach is presented to achieve the stable grasping of objects through a two-finger robotic hand, in which each finger cavity was filled with granular media. The compaction of the latter, controlled by vacuum pressure, was used to adjust the structural and contact stiffness of the finger. The grasping stability was studied under the concurrent effect of an external torque and applied vacuum pressure. Stable grasping was defined as the no slippage condition between the grasped object and the two fingers. Three control schemes were adopted and applied experimentally to ensure the effectiveness of the grasping process. The results showed that stable and unstable grasping regions exist for each combination of applied torqu

In this study, the spreading of the pandemic coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is formulated mathematically. The objective of this study is to stop or slow the spread of COVID-19. In fact, to stop the spread of COVID-19, the vaccine of the disease is needed. However, in the absence of the vaccine, people must have to obey curfew and social distancing and follow the media alert coverage rule. In order to maintain these alternative factors, we must obey the modeling rule. Therefore, the impact of curfew, media alert coverage, and social distance between the individuals on the outbreak of disease is considered. Five ordinary differential equations of the first-order are used to represent the model. The solution properties of the system ar

Background: Coronary artery disease remains the main cause of death despite several preventive programs. Epicardial adipose tissue is a visceral fat depot of the heart located along the large coronary arteries and on the surface of ventricles and apex. Intima media thickness is commonly recognized as the initial stage in the development of atherosclerosis. The development of ultrasound machines, advances in echocardiographic devices and high resolution transducers facilitate comprehensive analysis of epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and carotid –intima media thickness (C-IMT).
Aim: To investigate the relationship of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and carotid –intima media thickness (C-IMT) with the severity of coro

This study examines the removal of ciprofloxacin in an aqueous solution using green tea silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). The synthesized Ag-NPs have been classified by the different techniques of SEM, AFM, BET, FTIR, and Zeta potential. Spherical nanoparticles with average sizes of 32 nm and a surface area of 1.2387m2/g are found to be silver nanoparticles. The results showed that the ciprofloxacin removal efficiency depends on the initial pH (2.5-10), CIP (2-15 mg/L), temperature (20-50°C), time (0-180 min), and Ag-NPs dosage (0.1-1g/L). Batch experiments revealed that the removal rate with ratio (1:1) (w/w) were 52%, and 79.8% of the 10 mg/L of CIP at 60, and 180 minutes, respectively with optimal pH=4. Kinetic models for adsorpti

Among the different passive techniques heat pipe heat exchanger (HPHE) seems to be the most effective one for energy saving in heating ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC). The applications for nanofluids with high conductivity are favorable to increase the thermal performance in HPHE. Even though the nanofluid has the higher heat conduction coefficient that dispels more heat theoretically but the higher concentration will make clustering .Clustering is a problem that must be solved before nanofluids can be considered for long-term practical uses. Results showed that the maximum value of relative power is 0.13 mW at nanofluid compared with other concentrations due to the low density of nanofluid at this concentration. For highe

مستخلص البحث أهمية البحث عن طريق إعداد برنامج تدريبي يعتمد هذه الطريقة التدريبية في تطوير التحمل الخاص عن طريق العمل على بناء مستوى جيد من التحمل الخاص لدى اللاعبين الشباب في مرحلة الإعداد الخاص, تحقيق نتائج جيدة على مستوى أداء الواجبات المهارية والخططية المطلوبة منه في أثناء زمن المباراة, حيث ارتأت الباحثة من خلال إعداد برنامج تدريبي إلى رفع مستوى (التحمل الخاص) لدى لاعبي كرة القدم وبالتالي يمكنها أن تساع

Thrust blocks and restraint joints are the two most popular methods of counteracting the thrust force that generated at pipe fittings (bends, Tee, wye, reducers, dead ends, etc…). Both systems perform the same function, which is to prevent the joints from separating from the pipes. The aim of the study is to review previous studies and scientific theories related to the study and design of thrust blocks and restraint joints to study the behavior of both systems under thrust force and to study the factors and variables that affect the behavior of these systems. The behavior of both systems must be studied because they cannot be abandoned, as each system has conditions whose use is more feasible, scientific, and economic

A theoretical study on corrosion inhibitors was done by quantum calculations includes semi-empirical PM3 and Density Functional Theory (DFT) methods based on B3LYP/6311++G (2d,2P). Benzimidazole derivative (oxo(4- ((phenylcarbamothioyl) carbamoyl)phenyl) ammonio) oxonium (4NBP) and thiourea derivative 2-((4- bromobenzyl)thio) -1H-benzo[d] imidazole (2SB) were used as corrosion inhibitors and an essential quantum chemical parameters correlated with inhibition efficiency, EHOMO (highest occupied molecular orbital energy) and ELUMO (lowest molecular orbital energy). Other parameters are also studied like energy gap [ΔE (HOMO-LUMO)], electron affinity (EA), hardness (Δ), dipole moment (μ), softness (S), ionization potential (IE), absolut

Background: The discriminative power of the classical WHO parameters in relation to male fertility is quite low, because they only address few aspects of sperm quality and function. This has led investigators to focus their attention on the male gamete and in particular its genome.Objective: To explore which of the sperm DNA damage parameters measured by comet assay are more reliable, and their relations with the standard semen parameters.Methods: Study was done on 40 infertile men selected from couples attending the Institute of Embryo Reasearch and Infertility Treatment at Al-Kadhimiya City/ Baghdad in the period between February 2009 and May 2009, with a history of infertility of ≥1 years; and 15 healthy volunteers of proven fertili